excitedly. “Can you believe it?”
“No, I really can’t,” I said, shaking my head at him and putting my hands on my hips. “What is it tonight, Devon?”
“Well, I noticed when I was here yesterday that you two only had a DVD player,” he said. “And Nana said that you all had watched some movies so many times that they were scratched, so I thought I’d stop by and drop this Blu-ray player off.”
I cringed to hear him call her Nana.
“Devon says that this is the newest thing for movies,” Nana said. “He says that playing a movie on one of these things makes it even better quality than in the theater.”
“That’s if you play a Blu-ray disc on it, Nana,” I said. “We don’t have any of those. Just DVDs.”
“I also took the liberty of picking up a few movies on Blu-ray, to help you rebuild your library,” he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder as he finished up his work.
I walked around behind the couch to see what he was talking about, and my eyes bugged out. There were literally hundreds of movies piled up behind him, representing an investment worth thousands of dollars. He had bought us thousands of dollars’ worth of movies.
“Look, June,” Nana said, still brimming with excitement. “He even replaced all the movies of his that we had—even my favorite. We can watch it without it skipping.”
My heart did something stupid, in that moment. It warmed to the man fiddling with the wires on our television, flip-flopping because he’d made Nana so happy and excited. I didn’t know if the movies represented hush money or what, but I was thrilled that he’d made her feel like this. It made me not regret leaving her in the house every day when I went to work.
“Devon…this is too much,” I said.
“I told him the same thing,” Nana said, somber. “But he won’t take them back.”
“I just wanted to do something nice for you all,” he said, turning the television back around and settling the Blu-ray player in the same spot the DVD player used to reside. “There. All set. You all were so kind to me, tolerating me just dropping in. I know how much Nana loves her movies, so I wanted to make sure she stayed entertained.”
“June,” Nana whispered, practically vibrating with energy. “There are some movies that I haven’t even seen before. Not even once.”
“Well, thanks, Devon,” I said. “Thank you for this. This is too much, but if you insist…”
“Of course I insist,” he said. “In fact, I also wanted to come here to ask you both something.”
“Ask us anything,” Nana said, delirious with joy.
“I don’t know if you were here already, June, but yesterday I mentioned that some friends had invited me back to Hawaii, back to the location in one of the films that Nana likes so much,” he said.
“My favorite film,” Nana emphasized. “With the beach.”
I’d been here when he’d mentioned it, lurking in the shadows and trying to figure out what I was going to do with the actor in my house.
“And then Nana said something that stuck with me,” Devon continued. “That if it was important enough to me, I’d find the time for it. Well, I’ve made the time. I’m going to Hawaii to visit them. And I was wondering if you two would do me the honor of joining me there.”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “What? Are you crazy?”
“You’re talking about that beach?” Nana asked, peering at him. “The beach in the movie?”
“The very same,” Devon said. “If I hadn’t talked to you about it yesterday, it never would’ve happened for me. And I know you love that beach in the movie, Nana. I want to show it to you.”
“We can’t go to Hawaii,” I said flatly. “It’s an insane idea. We don’t even know you.”
“Of course we know him,” Nana argued. “He’s Devon Ray. What else is there to know?”
“Nana, it’s just not good logistics,” I told her, panic rising in my throat. What the hell was this? We couldn’t just go to
“No, I really can’t,” I said, shaking my head at him and putting my hands on my hips. “What is it tonight, Devon?”
“Well, I noticed when I was here yesterday that you two only had a DVD player,” he said. “And Nana said that you all had watched some movies so many times that they were scratched, so I thought I’d stop by and drop this Blu-ray player off.”
I cringed to hear him call her Nana.
“Devon says that this is the newest thing for movies,” Nana said. “He says that playing a movie on one of these things makes it even better quality than in the theater.”
“That’s if you play a Blu-ray disc on it, Nana,” I said. “We don’t have any of those. Just DVDs.”
“I also took the liberty of picking up a few movies on Blu-ray, to help you rebuild your library,” he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder as he finished up his work.
I walked around behind the couch to see what he was talking about, and my eyes bugged out. There were literally hundreds of movies piled up behind him, representing an investment worth thousands of dollars. He had bought us thousands of dollars’ worth of movies.
“Look, June,” Nana said, still brimming with excitement. “He even replaced all the movies of his that we had—even my favorite. We can watch it without it skipping.”
My heart did something stupid, in that moment. It warmed to the man fiddling with the wires on our television, flip-flopping because he’d made Nana so happy and excited. I didn’t know if the movies represented hush money or what, but I was thrilled that he’d made her feel like this. It made me not regret leaving her in the house every day when I went to work.
“Devon…this is too much,” I said.
“I told him the same thing,” Nana said, somber. “But he won’t take them back.”
“I just wanted to do something nice for you all,” he said, turning the television back around and settling the Blu-ray player in the same spot the DVD player used to reside. “There. All set. You all were so kind to me, tolerating me just dropping in. I know how much Nana loves her movies, so I wanted to make sure she stayed entertained.”
“June,” Nana whispered, practically vibrating with energy. “There are some movies that I haven’t even seen before. Not even once.”
“Well, thanks, Devon,” I said. “Thank you for this. This is too much, but if you insist…”
“Of course I insist,” he said. “In fact, I also wanted to come here to ask you both something.”
“Ask us anything,” Nana said, delirious with joy.
“I don’t know if you were here already, June, but yesterday I mentioned that some friends had invited me back to Hawaii, back to the location in one of the films that Nana likes so much,” he said.
“My favorite film,” Nana emphasized. “With the beach.”
I’d been here when he’d mentioned it, lurking in the shadows and trying to figure out what I was going to do with the actor in my house.
“And then Nana said something that stuck with me,” Devon continued. “That if it was important enough to me, I’d find the time for it. Well, I’ve made the time. I’m going to Hawaii to visit them. And I was wondering if you two would do me the honor of joining me there.”
My eyes bugged out of my head. “What? Are you crazy?”
“You’re talking about that beach?” Nana asked, peering at him. “The beach in the movie?”
“The very same,” Devon said. “If I hadn’t talked to you about it yesterday, it never would’ve happened for me. And I know you love that beach in the movie, Nana. I want to show it to you.”
“We can’t go to Hawaii,” I said flatly. “It’s an insane idea. We don’t even know you.”
“Of course we know him,” Nana argued. “He’s Devon Ray. What else is there to know?”
“Nana, it’s just not good logistics,” I told her, panic rising in my throat. What the hell was this? We couldn’t just go to
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